By George Rose

October 19, 2017

Because of the season of Comic Con, it has been almost two months since we had a traditional 5 Ways to Prep article and what a perfect time it is to return. October 21 is my birthday, which makes me a diehard fan of all things Halloween. As a Libra, I like to think I have the ability to balance all things… except my life, finances, emotional state of mind, relationships, etc. But still, I think I’m an expert at balance. What would be the equal and opposite balance to the scary movies traditionally enjoyed during this time of year? My best guess would be comedy.

With that you have the release of the mock-horror comedy Boo 2! A Madea Halloween. It’s grounded in the world of comedy but delivered with a touch of horror. That’s assuming you consider a grown, “heterosexual” man dressing up as a fat woman to be comedic. There are some that consider a man dressing as a woman to be horrific but those are the same idiots that voted Trump into office. A man dressing as a woman to make a movie isn’t horrific or funny; it’s kind of sad, really. I mean, Tyler Perry is crying into mountains of Madea money but I’m sure he wishes some of those millions came from Oscar worthy roles. It’s really not even his fault. If the masses want a fat lady, Perry is smart enough to make her sing all the way to the bank.

Do I think you should see Boo 2? Eh, it’s probably something I’ll find on TV next Halloween. For now, I’d rather spend my funds on a good costume. In the event money doesn’t grow on the trees in your backyard either, you might be looking for something to rent at home instead of throwing money away at the theater. And just like balancing your checkbook, sometimes you have to balance the tricks and treats that Hollywood has to offer so here are a few other classic “funny horror movies” you could watch to prepare yourself for the softer side of Halloween.

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Way to Prep #1: Scream (1996)

This is definitely the scariest recommendation but I use the term “scary” loosely. Back in the 90’s, teen angst was all the rage thanks to writer Kevin Willamson’s signature witty flair. After scoring great success with TV’s Dawson’s Creek, he teamed up with legendary horror director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street) to revamp the dying slasher genre; long gone were the days of Freddy Krueger’s murderous dreams. Rather than fearing gruesome monsters we learned to fear our neighbors, people that could have a stick up their butt because your mom slept with my dad and ruined my family… so now I’m going to gut you like a fish with a knife.

It made the whole “killer” thing more realistic, which made it more terrifying. To alleviate the stress this film would inevitably cause, Williamson softened the blow with oh-so-clever quips delivered by catty teenagers; teens that live in a world where renting videos from Blockbuster Video makes them aware of horror movie “rules” they then mock by having casual sex and smoking the marijuana cigarettes. To me, this movie was my everything. It was one of the first horror movies I ever saw during the pre-teen era of mine that was ruled by Dawson’s Creek. It was a great way to start my horror movie obsession and remains one of the few genre classics that broke the $100 million barrier in theaters. It was so great and worthy of imitation that only three years later a comedy would come along to flip this updated genre on its head.